ABOUT THE ARTIST | Sandra Birman

Sandra Birman is a Brazilian visual artist, born into a family of Polish origin, whose artistic process explores the intersection between cultural roots and personal experiences. Her research delves into reflections on fragmented memories, identity, and landscape, utilizing tapestries, fabrics, and painting as pictorial tools.

Artworks based on "Gobelin" tapestries and "Toile de Jouy" fabrics emerged in 2020. These European landscapes—icons of a generation’s taste—express the admiration of certain Latin cultures for idyllic representations of so-called more developed civilizations. The artist grew up in a Brazilian family of Polish descent, in a home filled with similar imagery. Through the perception (and transcendence) of this ancestral cultural fascination, she began using tapestries and fabrics to paint new landscapes. Freeing herself from the memories of these past environments allowed her to reconstruct an emotional space for her inner visual world.

Most recent works examine how the idyllic landscapes depicted in these patterns are deeply rooted in the human subconscious, having been reproduced in textile media for centuries. Birman appropriates and reinvents these images by cutting and painting over them. The resulting work resembles imaginary maps structured as baroque ornaments. The forms represent a fragment, a serial element in the composition of a new landscape scene, as they connect with the surrounding atmosphere. The artistic process reveals ideas of erasure, contamination, and hybridity. Objects are reinvented, becoming raw material once again. By reconstructing a personal visual environment through the fragmentation of natural landscapes, her work interweaves perception, memory, and, ultimately, art.

Sandra holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication from PUC-Rio and a Postgraduate degree in Art Curation from NOVA FCSH in Lisbon, where she has been working as an artist and curator for the past five years. The artist has participated in national and international group exhibitions, with highlights including the RA Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2022 and 2024. She lives and works between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. ESCAPE was her first solo exhibition in Castelo Branco, Portugal.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

PUC-Rio – Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Bachelor's in Visual Communication, 1984.
FGV – Fundação Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, MBA in Business Administration, 2003.
EAV – Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro – Art History and Theory, 2008 to 2013. Interdisciplinary Studies – Contemporary Art Projects Group, mentored by visual artist Iole de Freitas, since 2015.
FBAUL – Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon, Master's in Painting, 2020 (one year).
EGEAC – Masterclass in Art Curation at Lisbon Municipal Galleries, 2022.
NOVA FCSH – NOVA University of Lisbon, School of Social Sciences and Humanities – Postgraduate in Art Curation, 2023.

EXHIBITIONS

1990 – Nucleus, School of Visual Arts. Curator: Katie Van Scherpenberg. Rio de Janeiro.
1995 – Art Prototypes, Sérgio Porto Gallery. Rio de Janeiro.
2020 – Erased Memory, NowHere Gallery. Curators: Cristiana Tejo and Marilá Dardot. Lisbon.
2021/2022 – Mutirão, Art Collectors Club Gallery NowHere. Lapa, Lisbon.

2022 – RA Summer Exhibition, Curator: Alison Wilding RA. Royal Academy of Arts, London.

2023

Mercado P’la Arte, Group exhibition. Braço de Prata, Lisbon.
Every Body is Political – SNBA Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, as curator of the Collective of Curators – NOVA FCSH, Lisbon.
Wip Pop-up Art Gallery – Founder and Curator. Contemporary art in urban spaces under construction, Lisbon.
Bons Ares, Group exhibition, Lisbon.
Small Formats, Group exhibition. Monumental Art Gallery. Mártires da Pátria, Lisbon.

2024

ESCAPE, Solo Exhibition. Galeria Castra Leuca, Castelo Branco, Portugal.
RA Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, Curator: Ann Christopher, London.
The Art that Unites Us, Group Exhibition, Consulate of the Republic of Argentina, Rio de Janeiro.
Curator of the solo exhibition "Rules? No", Santa Catarina Gallery, Lisbon.

2025

Artist and Curator of the international Group Exhibition INFINITE INTERIOR, 8 artists, Castra Leuca Contemporary Art, Castelo Branco, Portugal.
JustMAD Contemporary Art Fair (justfairs), Madrid, Spain.

PRINTED PUBLICATIONS

2021 – "Pandemic Meetings and Reflections", Iole de Freitas and 19 artists. Art book, Brazil.
2023 – Exhibition catalog "Every Body is Political" at SNBA, Lisbon.
2024 – Solo Exhibition Catalog "Escape", Portugal.
2025 – Group Exhibition Catalog "Infinite Interior", Portugal.